


Arc 1: Awaken

by Subtle_Shenanigans



Series: Sacrifice [2]
Category: The Secret Saturdays
Genre: Animal Death, Gen, Old Kur issues, Well - Freeform, allusions to destruction, but are they real or because of expectations?, cryptid death, internalization of angst???, made up folklore, not gorey but there is a body
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 09:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13737522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Subtle_Shenanigans/pseuds/Subtle_Shenanigans
Summary: Zak, whose powers are beginning to return, and his family answer a call about a Cryptid sighting in Nevada.Though they end up getting a little more than they bargained for.





	1. Awaken Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ughhhhhh going through and editing these I am cringing. And crying.
> 
> So, the Downpour Arc, while flimsy, will start to show more storyline. Desolation will kick things off, but Lull is where it'll actually be decent.
> 
> Expect Wadi and Ulraj eventually.

AWAKEN (Pt.1)

" _ **What if there's some part of me that actually**_ **wants** _ **this? Should you really be trusting me?" –**_ **Zak from the** _ **Secret Saturdays**_ **Season 2 episode 2, "Kur, pt.2"**

* * *

 

_Breathe._

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing.

_The power surges through him, in his veins. Deep inside his soul it surges forth, warm and smooth like liquid honey through his blood, strong and forceful like a river in spring, but fierce and impatient like summer lightening._

He breathes out, opening his eyes that now glow a strange orange, the color trailing like the essence of energy. He strives for control, only letting his power out slowly from the one outlet, the Claw of Tsul'Kalu.

He practices his power on Komodo, the usual unwilling guinea pig. Well, dragon.

He feels the connection, the ability to suppress or manipulate the other's will. By giving the cryptid he connected with "suggestions", the creature usually hastily obeys. The more intelligent or sentient the cryptid, the more likely they are to resist and the harder it is.

But Komodo was familiar, and although a bit resistant, Zak controlled him with ease. With one last annoyed hiss, Komodo's form left the visible world.

Fiskerton stood in the room, preparing for an attack from the invisible dragon. The goal was for Zak to practice his control on cryptids and get him to successfully pounce on the "gorilla-cat". Fiskerton didn't like it but he complied.

Zak closed his eyes and focused on his power, making the connection stronger. Briefly, Zak felt that power again, like during the fight against Argost. He was able to see through Komodo's eyes, but only for a brief, fleeting moment. He opened his eyes again and focused on the task at hand. He made the invisible cryptid quickly circle around Fiskerton, stopping at his left. Then Komodo leapt and Zak made his visible at the last moment, causing a surprised yelp from Fiskerton.

Zak broke the connection causing his eyes and Komodo's to stop glowing. He looked at his mom and gave a timid smile.

Drew Saturday smiled back warmly at her son and said, "Very good Zak. You seem to have pretty good control over your powers so far. I think it's safe for you to use them on missions again."

Zak just nodded. After he got his powers "back" two months ago his parents thought he should be cautious since he was out of practice. They had been worried that his powers would wack out like after Antarctica. Zak himself wasn't too worried about his powers. It was his own self control he was more worried about.

A sudden beeping startled him out of his thoughts. Doc Saturday's voice sounded on the intercom.

"Supposed 'monster' sighting in a small town in Nevada. Be prepared to land in an hour."

Drew grinned at her fourteen year old boy, who smiled back just as broadly.

"Ready to put that training into action?"

* * *

 

Zak was a bit agitated, although he didn't show it. He was excited to go back to doing what his family normally did, along with using his powers like before. But part of him hated landing anywhere new. Ever since he started using his powers again, certain...tendencies had shown up. Often, whenever they went somewhere new, he saw that place ruined, destroyed. And he especially didn't like the feelings that accompanied it.

Stepping off the airs _hip_   _he saw the small town of who-knows-where, Nevada in ruins. The buildings crumbling, vacant. The windows smashed in and the only sound for miles is the car alarms unattended and a broken fire hydrant. The asphalt is cracked and smoke drifts lazily from a few dying fires._

_On the ground there is blood but no bodies._

_The small town is as silent as the grave, even the cryptids gone from this devastated place._

_He breathes in and can't help but sigh contentedly. After the adrenaline pumping chaos, the calm quiet of the aftermath. He feels a deep satisfaction at this latest disaster. But also deep twisting guilt and horror. This artistic destruction, a masterpiece built by power and chaos._

_He smiles a small, sad smile._

"...Monster."

Zak jolts out of his thoughts, disturbed by the vision and his own feelings. He knew he couldn't completely control what he felt, but a small part of him was deeply bothered. Human half and Ancient half warring inside him.

What had mainly pulled him from his thoughts though was that word. That hated word.  _Monster._

The local, a man from a local town store by the name of 'Allen', was describing the cryptid that had been spotted. His voice interwoven with horrid fascination, his eyes wide and gleaming as he related the story.

"It was large, wi' brown fur an' claws like daggers! I c'n assure you it were no grizzly too! Strangest thing abou' the thing was it had eyes, big like an' owl! A real life monster if I e'er saw one!"

Zak flinched visibly at the word but it went unnoticed by all except Fiskerton, who put a comforting paw on his brother's shoulders.

Doc smiled reassuringly at the man, "Don't worry, uh, Allen. We'll look into it. If what you described is what we think it is, rest assured that we'll deal with it."

The fairly young thirty-something man smiled, "Thank ya kindly Saturdays."

Drew shouldered her battle sword and Doc pulled on his gloves. Nodding to his three sons he said, "Come on Boys, let's go."

* * *

 

The woods they entered were silent. Pines, Firs, and all other manners of dark leafed trees stood tall and ancient, the whole place seeming ethereal and unreal.

Zak felt his stomach tighten and his body tense. Zak realized that this was some sort of instinct kicking in. And it was telling him that something was very, very wrong.

Doc spoke quietly, "Drew, did you notice...?"

"No birdsong," she finished his sentence quietly.

Zak felt a cold tingling along his spine, as though something was watching him. He turned around slowly. Nothing but the quiet of the trees and the empty bushes greeted him. But the still quiet warned him something was here. A very intelligent  _something,_ different from the cryptid Allen described.

Suddenly Zak locked eyes with something hidden in the dark. Twin orbs of fiery russet met his own orange-tinged brown eyes.

Suddenly his gaze was wrenched away when Drew called him over. Disoriented, he went to her, no thoughts of the last few seconds present in his mind.

"Zak! Doc! Come look at this!" Drew called, kneeling over the forest floor. Doc and his son came over to see her examining some imprints in the ground.

"See, look here. It's the cryptid that local had been describing. Roughly seven hundred pounds, four paws with long, unretractive claws, possibly any of three cryptids, but obviously something's wrong with it. See how the paw prints are splayed out, the trail tilting to one side? I think this cryptid's rabid, probably close to dying. I don't think we're going to find it alive."

Zak was overcome with sadness at the verdict. He'd always been a kind hearted boy with a love for cryptids and animals of all types. The thought of finding one dead and alone broke his heart.

Drew saw the emotions flash across Zak's face. She glanced at Doc, then pulled Zak to her, embracing him. He was only fourteen and death of any sort was still new to him. "It's okay sweetie. I know it's a horrible thing, but it's part of life. Do you want to go back to the airship?"

Zak, who was hugging her tightly, shook his head.

Drew squeezed him once, than let go. "Okay, if you insist. But Fiskerton and Komodo should go back though. We don't know how many other cryptids are infected and we don't want them contracting it."

Fiskerton growled an argument and Komodo hissed indignantly. Doc shook his head and ushered them back to the airship.

"Come on boys, you know she's right."

With that, the kurling and his human parents went into the unnaturally quiet woods, following the trail of a beast condemned to death.

_**To Be Continued...** _


	2. Awaken Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a body in this chapter, fair warning.
> 
> I think it's the next part but the chirp noise is based off of the Felids' noise from Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel.

 

AWAKEN Pt.2

* * *

 

About an hour later they came upon the body.

The cryptid was just as the man described, large with shaggy, brown fur and long, unretractable claws. Its large eyes were sightless and glazed over in death and its large jaws parted as though taking its last breath.

The local had been right when he said the creature was in no way a Grizzly. The creature was much more cat-like with a long furry tail and tapered ears- but its eyes were the most different.

Its eyes were unusually large and round, like an owl's, but a rich, dark blue in color. They had an eerie and unnatural look, like they could stare into your very soul. Zak shuddered.

Drew circled the beast, taking in its appearance in true cryptidzoologist fashion, even noting the blood-flecked foam coating its gaping jaws. She nodded once, satisfied with her conclusion.

"It's a Nevada Seer."

Zak furrowed his brow. "A Nevada Seer?"

Doc sighed knowing what was going to be said next.

Sure enough, Drew did exactly as her husband thought and launched into full-on magical belief mode, explaining the cryptid and its legend background.

"A Nevada Seer is one of the five species of 'Seer creatures', all part of the Felidae-cryptid family. Back in the early Native American times, tribes believed that the cryptid had mystical properties. They had a belief that the cryptid was a sort of prophet- that it could see into the future. But not fully, only a certain distance. In ceremonies, tribes would burn the cryptids bones at night in full view of the stars. According to legend, an individual would see some form of their personal future in the flames. Some other legends say you could see the future if you locked eyes with the cryptid."

"That's...really interesting," Zak replied, gazing at the cryptid. "Can we...can we bury it?"

Drew looked at her husband. "Well, we  _were_  planning to. You can help your father dig a grave, but  _don't touch the body_ , got it?"

Zak nodded and helped his father dig a burial hole with the aid of some fallen branches. When they had finished their task, Drew and the boys used the branches to push the body in. They then filled the hole and proceeded to leave the gravesite.

"We can tell that local, Allen, that the Seer won't be back to bother them."

Doc agreed with his wife and added, "We should check the woods for other cryptids though, and make sure they didn't contract the disease."

Zak suddenly stilled and looked around, his parent's voices fading from his attention. He felt something watching him, he was sure of it. He thought he heard something, like the soft brush of paws against dirt, but he wasn't sure since his parents weren't reacting, and they would know if something was there.

Reality came slamming back as his parents called for him to follow. He hurried to catch up with them, unaware of Orange-russet eyes following from the shadows.

* * *

 

They only spotted a few cryptids of the smaller variety in the forest, and none showed any signs of having rabies. And the various animals they saw acted fine. Drew was sure they didn't have it.

But that led to a very important question- How  _did_ the Nevada seer get the virus?

"It's possible it ate some contaminated prey," Doc proposed, knowing that the Seer had been an omnivorous species.

Drew was still a bit skeptical. "Yes, but how did its prey get it? Is the disease still lingering? Is anyone in town infected or in danger of getting infected?"

"Whoa Mom, slow down. You know they have a shot for rabies, right?" Zak said. "Plus, maybe, I don't know, it was … bit by a rabid raccoon that died in the sewers," he shrugged.

Drew sighed knowing the raccoon idea wasn't the most likely, but her son had a point. They probably wouldn't discover the root cause anytime soon. "Maybe you're right. I guess we can give the local area an alert and be done with it. There's not really much we can do."

Doc glanced around the woods. "When we get back to the airship I'll catalogue this area and it's cryptids with a rabies warning."

Drew calmed considerably and added, "I'll also look up a little lore and check if there's a mystical hotspot nearby."

Doc shook his head and let a small smile escape.  _Of course_  she'd bring magic into this.

Zak smiled at his parents' exchange. He loved how they had their differences but were always gently teasing each other about it, never truly pushing the others' beliefs down.

His father was about to reply to Drew when suddenly a dark shape hurtled out of the bushes, grasping the back of Zak's shirt in its jaws. Swiftly the creature ran with its burden, outdistancing Zak's Parents' cries of alarm.

Zak struggled, even tried his power at one point, but couldn't get loose. Ever since the whole Argost ordeal, Zak hadn't been able to control a cryptid without eye contact. He knew it would be awhile before he got to that point again.

Suddenly his large, kidnapping- Kurnapping? - Companion unlatched its jaws and dropped its burden in a cave entrance.

The tunnel was of pale gray hued rock, the tunnel-like entrance sloping down slightly. Bushes lined the entrance and the ground consisted of cool, dark dirt. Zak took a quick glance at the walls, noting the strange design he assumed to be markings, and then turned to his captor.

The first thing Zak noted about the cryptid was its deep, orange-russet coloured eyes that seemed like they could pull you in. He could tell by the creature's gaze that it was highly intelligent. Its muzzle was broad and squat, like a Jaguar, with its fangs slightly showing. It had a round face with pointed cat ears and its head was supported by a thick muscular neck. Its body was built like that of a lion, with long golden-tan fur sporting slightly darker stripe-like markings. Its tail was long furred and unmarked and the creature had overly large paws with retractable claws. It was massive, even bigger than the 'lucky' blue tiger.

The cryptid noticed Zak examining him and didn't seem to mind. When it sensed the boy was done and looked up at his face, it tipped its head to the side inquiringly.

Zak was used to talking to cryptids, he even knew that ones as intelligent as this one could talk. He decided to try more conversational words than he usually did.

"Um, Hello. Why did you take me here? I mean, you haven't attacked me exactly."

The cryptid flashed its ears back and then forward, showing it heard Zak's words and understood. A deep, panthera-like noise rumbled deep within its chest, like it was pleased. The huge beast went behind Zak and nudged him to his feet, then inclined its head to the wall. Zak tried to make out the shapes and proceeded to talk to his strange companion.

"You know, you could have just tried to lead me here. If you didn't want my parents to come I could have made them stay…"

His eyes widened as he made out the carvings etched into the wall.

Destruction and oblivion.

A long, four-limbed body with wings.

A Dragon.

Kur.

_**To be finalized in part 3…** _


	3. Awaken Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, a few things in this are only subtly ever adresses again. whoops.

AWAKEN (Pt.3)

* * *

 

Drew and Doc followed the creature as fast as fates would allow, but they never caught up with the beast. Doc managed to calm his wife down before she could take off after it without any thought. He reasoned with her that Zak could fend for himself for a while and that they should try to look for a trail. She saw the sense in this and agreed, but not without declaring that if "anything happens to her baby boy, nothing, not even Argost back from the dead, would stop her."

They looked 'round and about, carefully examining the ground for any trace, but couldn't find anything. They were gone.

Their son was taken by a creature that left no paw prints.

* * *

 

The walls told a story in pictures, an interwoven story of deep and shallow carvings made by multiple skilled people. They told stories of devastation and chaos of the past, the pictures not all clear but accurate enough to read. They told of Armies and War and Death.

Zak felt his blood rise in anger. Why was the cryptid showing him all  _this_?! Was he- Zak suspected the beast of being male- like Rani Naga and her cohorts, convinced that he has returned to slay off humanity? That he, young and very much human, Zak Saturday, must use his powers to attack, slay, and subdue the human race, his own birth kind?

He turned to the cryptid, eyes blazing in not his power, but anger and hurt. "What's the point of all this?!" He gestured to the wall. "Are you here to convince me I'm evil, like the Naga tried to do? That I must force war on the humans, because I'm  _Kur_? That's never going to happen, no matter who tries to convince me otherwise! I am  _not_  going to be the bad guy, so you're wasting your time!"

As Zak was shouting, the beast flattened its ears, displeased. It had not brought him here to see the majority of the pictures, nor to make him upset. It wanted him to see the one unusual blight of the wall-pictures, what the creature believed to be a shred of truth, although strange and conflicting with the evidence of the walls. It pointed its nose to a spot in the corner and brought Zak over there.

The stone here was of a paler colour than the rest of the wall, and depicted a long-bodied dragon, Kur, flying upwards. On the 'ground' were some cryptids, the few that were humanoid (anthropomorphic) had crude expressions of hope and amazement. Among the cryptids were a few humans sporting the same expression.

"I-I don't understand," Zak said quietly. All this destruction, and pain, and wrath, and here were some cryptids- some  _Humans_ \- looking at the monster with some kind of positive expression?

The great creature beside him got on his hind paws and brought his right forepaw up, placing it on a mark below the carving for a moment. It then brought its paw down and got on all fours to turn to Zak.

The mark was obviously Sumerian, although a bit time worn. The best description would be a backwards 'C' with a short, thick line below it and a filled in ellipse on the end, kinda like a pendulum.

"Kur."

Zak spun around and looked at the cryptid in surprise. The noise it produced to create a rough form of speech wasn't deep or growling, rather, it came from its throat and was more akin to a chirp.

The cryptid gazed back with deeply intelligent eyes. "Kur," it chirped again. It then lifted both forepaws up to the wall, leaning just below the picture. Gazing at the picture it chirped, "Hope" and then, "all-death."

While Zak was contemplating what it meant, it hopped down and chirped, "Take home." It then grabbed Zak's shirt in its jaws and bounded away.

It sped through the forest, trees and bushes blurring in grey and green. If Zak had not been so preoccupied with the current events he would have noticed that even at the swift pace the cryptid set, no paws thrummed across the ground. The only noise was the swishing of air that rushed by them. Once they reached where the creature thought was the desired destination, it dropped Zak gently and flicked its ears, hearing something. Quickly it nuzzled a bewildered Zak Saturday and bound away, leaving no trace of its existence but a startled boy who could tell of the encounter.

As Zak was pondering what the hell had just happened and what all these events meant, the bushes rustled and his parents came out. He jumped up and shouted "Mom!" hurrying towards her. Drew Saturday hurried even faster to close the gap and embraced him tightly. "Zak! Are you okay? Were you hurt? What happened? We were worried sick!"

Zak gently tried to push her away so he wouldn't be suffocated, "I'm okay! I'm okay! Jeez, just let me breathe a moment, okay?"

Relief was evident on Doc's face, "Let's get back to the airship. You can tell us what happened there."

* * *

 

_**BACK AT THE AIRSHIP** _

"Err-wherr ah-whoo! Erman grweer?"

"Like I said Fisk, The big cat-cryptid-thing just wanted to show me his home- a cave- and he brought me back."

Zak was telling his family about what had happened- omitting the parts about the cave and the creature speaking- while using exaggerated gestures to give an idea about the size of the cryptid.

Fiskerton gave Zak a skeptical look, feeling that it wasn't the  _whole_  story, but didn't voice it. Zak looked Fiskerton in the eyes and tried to silently communicate that he would explain more to him later. The Fiskerton Phantom nodded, understanding.

Both turned to focus on Drew as she began speaking.

"From Zak's description, I'd say it was a Lion-Sun Cat, a Jaguar and Puma-like cryptid found in South America and the Southern United States."

"That doesn't make much sense though," Doc stated. "What's it doing this far North?"

"Maybe it was escaping danger," Zak suggested with a shrug. Fiskerton made some noise to show his agreement with his brother.

"Well it gets weirder," Drew continued, reading from her data pad, "Not only does it not leave footprints, but fossil evidence suggests that it's been extinct for about three-thousand years."

Zak was thinking hard about this, and then recognized his mother's tone. "So you don't believe me?" Zak asked, offended.

Drew took on a more careful tone, "No sweetie, we believe you. It just . . . doesn't make much sense."

Suddenly the lights flashed red and an alarm went off.

"We'll have to figure this out later, we have an alert," Doc interrupted.

While his parents were distracted with looking into the alert, Zak motioned for Fiskerton to follow him out of the control room so he could tell him about the pictures and try to figure out what they meant.

Two questions swam around in his mind and they were these:

What did the Lion-Sun Cat mean when he said "Hope" and "All-Death"?

And what was it trying to tell him, that Kur had some good according to some ancients, or just a necessary evil?

* * *

 

 _The 32_ _nd_ _floor of an office building in Manhattan. 5:45, evening._

A feminine figure stood in front of a desk, left hand on her hip. She wore a mask with a crude likeness to a face on it, the eyes made of a dark tinted glass. Her full body outfit was a lighter blue, and she had some sort of pack on her back shoulders. When she spoke, her voice was distorted by the technology in the mask.

"What do you have for me this time?"

The figure behind the desk was draped in shadow. And had their hands placed on the desk, locked together. When they spoke, they had the deeper tone of a male human, with the slightest hint of an accent.

"I want you to spy on the Saturday brat. Find out anything you can. What he's doing, where he's going, his relationships with other people and with the monsters his family tries so hard to protect. I'm sure you can take care of this, especially after watching you deal with that old buissness associate of mine. I want you to report back to me everything you learn.  _Everything_ , is that understood?"

"What's in it for me?" The woman asked, a bit of arrogance in her voice. "Spying's not cheap you know, an assassination is much easier."

The man smiled in the shadows.  _Ah, right down to buissness,_  he thought.

"Thirty grand."

"Thirty-five," she countered. "His uncle's my ex."

The man nodded in understanding. "Deal. Now go."

She went over to the large wall window and opened it. She turned on her jetpack and left in a flourish, eager to get the job done so she could be paid.

The man smiled. He would keep some intelligence on the boy before he striked. The boy was just too dangerous to be left alive. Plus, a little revenge didn't hurt.

The man chuckled darkly. Yes, 'Kur' would pay dearly before he died.


End file.
